Juventus got absolutely stomped 3-0 at home by Lazio tonight in Serie A, and even head coach Luciano Spalletti is scratching his head, straight up admitting he was ‘surprised’ by the performance. This wasn’t some narrow miss, either; they were just flat out inferior in every way, and the Bianconeri fans let them know it, hurling insults and jeering the squad right to the final whistle.
What Happened on the Pitch (and On the Sidelines)
Honestly, Juve never really looked like they were going to get a result in Turin. Lazio came in and just took over, with Oliver Provstgaard heading one in, Gustav Isaksen hitting an angled drive, and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru finishing it off with a late counter-attack. You’d think after Thursday’s 2-1 comeback win away to Celta Vigo in the Europa League, they’d still be riding that high, but nah, they got brought crashing back down to earth tonight. To make things even more chaotic, Spalletti wasn’t even on the bench for this one, he was serving a touchline ban because of an altercation he had with Fabio Pisacane of Cagliari. Assistant manager Marco Domenichini was holding down the fort, but it clearly didn’t matter. Spalletti confessed to DAZN Italia, “It was certainly an inferior Juventus, a team that did not control the game, nor have ideas on where to take the game.” Oof.
Spalletti’s Post-Game Confession and the Real Issues
Spalletti sounded genuinely baffled trying to explain it, even to himself. He brought up the brutal travel schedule, getting back at 4 AM on Friday from Vigo, and trying to get the players recovered. They even tried to switch things up, putting in six new players. But the coach said they were “slow both in legs and mind.” And then he dropped the real kicker, the kind of stuff that makes you wanna pull your hair out as a fan: “In football, you can see the opponents, you can see the ball, and if you are too slow to react, show no heart or rhythm, tactics and systems become irrelevant.” Yikes. He also piled on, saying he hated the “fragility in duels,” and how they let their “heads drop when things aren’t working.” The coach even touched on a point Gennaro Gattuso made about players giving up easily, firing back, “The important thing is to show a reaction, not abandon yourself to events. Our careers aren’t just down to luck, we’ve got to fight for those opportunities.” He’s forcing them to learn that lesson, but is anyone actually listening?
A Dangerous Downward Trend for Juve
This loss leaves Juventus with a dismal 11 points after just seven rounds of Serie A, and they’re already eight points off top spot. To put that in perspective, Igor Tudor’s side had one more point, 12, at this exact stage last season and he was facing the sack. Thiago Motta had 13 points after seven games in his brief stint. This isn’t just a bad night; this is a “definite downward trend” and it’s getting harder to ignore. Spalletti said they “clearly, we need to analyse and there are only two possibilities. We can either discuss the way w” and then the quote cuts off, leaving us hanging. Whatever those two possibilities are, they better figure it out fast because this isn’t the Juventus we know, and something’s gotta give before this season completely spirals out of control.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply